Yarra's Adventure Notes-Chapter 1292 - 78: Reunion After Many Years

"Who has awakened me from my slumber?" Old Field’s soul opened its eyes and looked around with a puzzled gaze, saying, "Is that you, Catherine? Didn’t I say to try not to disturb me? Being abruptly awakened like this makes me feel very tired. Tell me, what is the matter for waking me? Also, where is this?"

"My apologies, Grandfather, I know disturbing you would affect your recovery, but I felt it was necessary to awaken you now, otherwise you might blame me," Catherine said apologetically, "This is the Holy City, but we are not in our mansion, we are in a villa in Manias Street."

"Wutong Avenue? How did you end up here? You didn’t happen to buy one of the villas, did you? No, I don’t think so," Merlin The Mage frowned, but did not dwell further on the matter, and immediately asked, "What exactly is so urgent that you had to awaken me?"

"Uh, there’s a person, I believe, Grandfather, that it is necessary for you to meet," Catherine’s gaze held a tinge of slyness as she struggled to keep her face serious, "This person’s situation is very special, and the implications are significant. If he does not meet with you immediately, it could have serious consequences."

"Who is this person that you are treating so cautiously?" Old Field was full of curiosity, turning his gaze to Marquis Snape who had been silent since his arrival, as the room only contained this one stranger. Naturally, he could guess that Catherine was referring to the old man before him. However, more than forty years had elapsed, aging Snape from middle age to his later years, significantly altering his appearance, leaving Merlin unable to recognize the man’s identity. He only said to Catherine, "Little Catherine, won’t you introduce this gentleman?"

"Uh, Grandfather, I don’t know who he is either," Catherine, like a lady, cleverly covered the smile on her face and mischievously blinked, "I thought you, Grandfather, would know who he is."

"You troublesome child, how would I know? It’s been so many years, I... wait a moment?" When Field mentioned the many years, a spark of inspiration suddenly flashed through his mind. Influenced by this insight, Merlin involuntarily closed his mouth, examining the old man before him intently. Undoubtedly, he had never seen this old man before, but something about him felt oddly familiar. On closer inspection, if he straightened his stooped back, fleshed out his gaunt stature a bit, smoothed out his deeply grooved, bark-like facial skin, and added some hair to his shiny head, the resemblance seemed more familiar. Old Field rubbed his eyes vigorously, although being in a spiritual state meant he could no longer experience blurred vision, Merlin did so nonetheless because it seemed to him that the old man before him and the image ingrained deep in his memory were slowly converging, forcing him to doubt his own vision. However, no amount of eye-rubbing could change what he saw; the old mage’s soul, under the strain of intense emotions, began to flicker unstably, as if about to dissipate anytime, a frightening prospect. It flickered for a while before he trembled and said, "Upstart, is it you, Upstart?"

"Damn you, Merlin, you damned fallen noble." Hearing this epithet, that had not been heard in over forty years, Marquis Snape felt his heart wrench in an instant, a sour sensation rushing from his chest to his nose, causing tears to well up like springs. Although it was merely a taunting nickname, the tone and voice were so familiar, as if they had resonated in his ears just the day before, despite the passage of more than forty years. Old Marquis, pressing tightly on his tumultuous chest as if his heart would leap out otherwise, was overwhelmed with emotion and couldn’t utter a complete sentence, only managing to produce heavy gasps. With Catherine’s gentle patting on his back, he still gasped for a long time before he calmed down a bit, then stuttered, "It’s been over forty years, and you, you damned fallen noble, still have not abandoned that nickname, I warn you, I am no longer the upstart; now I am a marquis of the Neville Federation."

"Oh, a marquis bought from Neville, I understand, there’s no difference apparent to my eyes anyway." Merlin sniffed arrogantly, scanned the room, and sneered, "I should have known it was yours. Who else could persist with such poor taste for over forty years? Tsk, ’Sound of Hope’ by Master Akama, framed not in the respectful Number 5 Red but in Number 7 Red, that’s a sheer insult to Master Akama. And there, Master Broken Silver’s metal relief ’Guardians’ is placed in a room with a brown carpet. Only your taste would dare to do such a thing."

"Hahaha, idiotic down-on-their-luck nobility, this is actually your granddaughter’s doing," Snape, far from getting angry at Merlin’s sarcasm, instead stood up from his chair and laughed proudly with his hands on his hips, "I knew you’d criticise me the moment we met, so I simply let little Catherine arrange the room, hahahaha, now you have nothing to say." freeωebnovēl.c૦m

"Hmm, not bad, not bad," Merlin, expression unchanged and habitually stroking his short beard, nodded with satisfaction towards Catherine, "Your eye is good, knowing that the placement of an artwork must not be mundane, it must bring a fresh perspective to the viewer. Using Number 7 Red for the frame is quite creative, even though it does not enhance the sense of hope conveyed by the artwork as strongly as Number 5 Red would, it creates a subtle contrast that renders the whole painting more atmospheric. Very well done, worthy indeed of being an heir to the Field Family."

"That’s why I hate you declining nobility," the Old Marquis huffed angrily, smacking the armrest and shouting, "In the end, you just want to despise my taste, right?"

"Exactly," Merlin the Mage responded just as loudly, the two old men, with hips cocked and glaring at each other, resembled two bickering children, as though they were about to start fighting at any moment.

However, after glaring at each other while panting heavily for a while, the angry expressions on the faces of the two old friends thawed simultaneously, bursting into hearty laughter and stepping toward each other with arms open, embracing tightly after more than forty years.

But the next moment, the laughter stopped abruptly.

The two old friends, attempting to embrace, found that at the moment of contact, they passed through each other’s bodies, ending up hugging nothing but air.